1400 instead of 1200?

I don't mean to be harsh, but I think you are too concerned about a number on a scale. I'd say try 1400 a day for a week or two and see how you feel.

Hi, I am relatively new to MFP and am really confused on how much I need to eat. I’m sorry you have probably heard this a thousand times, but I don’t understand. I am currently 5’4”, female, 124 pounds, college freshman. My goal is 115 and my starting weight was 156. I joined MFP because my weight had plateaued but now it has happened once again. MFP gave me 1200 calories to eat and I always make sure to eat back the majority of my exercise calories to at least net 1200. My weight right now is just fluctuating between 124 and 125. I can’t get it to budge down any lower. Am I eating enough? Should I change my goal to 1 pound per week instead of 2? I was really hoping to get below 123 before Thanksgiving and that doesn’t’ look like it’s going to happen. I am seriously considering upping my calories to 1440 but I really don’t want to gain anything. I have looked at so many TDEE and BMR calculators and just don’t know what to go by. Any advice?

The following is what worked for me. Everyone is different but maybe at least one thing will ring true for you.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

All I can do is share what worked for me. I achieved my goal at age 50 after beating my head against the wall for 15 years. Yeah anyone can do it, but I can tell you that you are up against a lot when you are older and I believe females have some unique issue to face with hormones and such. The sooner you can get a handle on it the better. DO NOT GIVE UP. As I got older and the weight piled on (and I didn't feel I was eating too much!) everyone kept telling me to give up, this is what happens when you get older. I'm small, and I didn't realize how small I was until I lost the weight. Everyone said I had big bones. I looked hefty because I worked out. Once I lost the weight I realized how small I really was and that small people don't need to eat as much as big people. HINT: If you are short you are probably small.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.


Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

It really is about calories. I tell people this all the time and they say "Well if calories are all that matter why do you eat so clean???!!" Well, because it makes me feel better, sleep better, and perform better at my sports.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The good thing is you don't have to worry about the starvation mode myth if you are fat. Only skinny people have to worry about starvation mode. It does not mean you have the capability to eat at a large calorie deficit if you have emotional eating disorders or other issues going on, but at least you don't have to be afraid of it anymore.

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.


Being on a calorie deficit is hard. You can't do this journey on will power alone. You must set up your environment for success. Have a team around you in your real life, not just online. Get trigger foods out of the house. It will take some sacrifice and it's not easy. You might have to say no to some social events sometimes.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

For me it's all about a calorie budget. I had less of a budget available when I was losing weight, more to spend now that I'm maintaining and all the tools I used for weight loss come into play for the rest of my life maintaining.

When you have accumulated excess fat, you have accumulated a debt. It is hard to pay off the debt (you have less calories to spend). If you are sitting next to someone your same gender and height and they are not overweight and you are, they get to eat more than you (have more calories to spend) because they are debt free. You have less calories to spend because you are paying off your debt.

Every thread I come in to comment on...wall of text.

OP do you weight train? SMASHHHHHHH!

FFS, send the novels in a PM, we've all seen this post 900 times...

If you're feeling low on energy it can be a combination of macro levels and caloric intake. Try out 1400, give it a month or so at least. If you're still feeling low on energy during that time, reevaluate and consider increasing calories.

I lost for three months eating 1200 cals a day (not working out), plateaued for three months, increased cals to 1400-1500 and started losing again. Started working out and increased to 1800-1900, now I lose 1lb per week. I've noticed, in comparison to the low cal, high cardio diet I had been on a couple years ago, that eating 1800+ cals, doing a heavy lifting program and also incorporating moderate levels of cardio that I've been able to maintain a lot more muscle. Eating enough protein will also help with this. It will lead to a more "toned" look... aka I wanna look strong, not skinny. And you won't bulk up either, that takes A LOT of work and A LOT of food for women to do.

ETA: I HATE the word "toned" but it seems to be that that's the only way to get women to not fear weightlifting. I wanna look effin' strong and I know that it would take years of extremely dedicated workouts and a lot of food to get to bodybuilder level, commonly referred to as "bulky". There's plenty of strong women on here lifting heavy that are beautiful, not bulky. Besides, there's a lot of bodybuilders that are gorgeous too.

Most GOOD fitness trainers would tell you that going below 1400 calories a day should be under medical supervision. 1200 is super restricting. When I told my trainer that that I was trying to hit 1100-1200 a day, he was livid (and I'm a certified trainer...I know better!) He said I would never make the changes that I wanted with that few calories....and he was right. I was doing cardio, weight training, everything! But I still had a couple pounds to lose and an extra inch or two to lose. I wasn't getting the muslce that I was working so hard to get. What is happening is that you are not eating back the calories you are burning through work outs. When you don't, you won't gain that lean muscle that you want to replace fat. Also, when restricting calories to such a limited amount, you are reducing the number of fat burning enzymes in your body, so your body will take way more time to burn fat, and less fat, either at rest, or while working out.

I am the same height as you are and was struggling with those last couple of stubborn pounds. Up your weight-training, make sure you are doing your cardio, and don't limit your calories so much. You need them for your glycogen sources and to build muscle. Remember, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest, so you want those calories to build that muscle (you don't bulk, don't worry). Just eat clean. Try changing your macronutrient ratios to 40% carbs, 30% fat, and 30% protein.

Remember to hit that anabolic window within 1-1 1/2 hours of your workout by having a quick acting source of protein (whey is good, but make sure it is fast acting). Feed your muscles. Gain that muscle with more calories and you will burn that excess fat.

Finally, remember that the scale is not always your friend. If you weigh yourself often, you probably notice that there are fluctuations everyday. This is due to differences in water weight, bone mass, what you ate the night before, when you've gone to the bathroom, etc. Focus on how your clothes fit and the measurements you want to achieve (making sure they are realistic). If they are not what you want, work on getting some more muscle (but you need those calories). Make sure the extra calories are coming from clean, whole, fresh, and organic (if possible) sources.

@Californiagirl: (not quoting as the post is a wall of text)

A couple of points: while I do not agree with some of what you say (see below for a specific example) you do have some good insights. However, I am sure it would be much better received if you didn't just copy paste the same wall of text on every single thread. Most of the information is not even pertinent to the question at hand.

With regard to the starvation mode comment - you mention you do not have to worry about large deficits unless you are very lean or have emotional eating issues. This is just not correct. For a start, the study that you keep referencing ad nausea, was taken from the series of ranger studies conducted by Freidl et al. They did not show that muscle would not be catabolized at higher BF% - what they showed is that basically only muscle would be used as an energy source at a very low BF% - above that it is still catabolized, just not exclusively. Also, you seem to be totally missing the other physiological and psychological impacts of a long-term VLCD, including hormonal imbalance, lowered T-levels, impaired cognitive functions, depression, decreased physical performance etc etc etc. Just looking at a small element of a study totally misses some very important information.

bump

I keep hearing that 1200 is too low by the eat more police. Can one of them explain to me why mfp sets almost every woman at that number if it's incorrect?

It is just math - you set a low activity level and a high weigh loss goal - it gets you to less than 1,200 - as this is the threshold set by MFP, hence a lot of 1,200 cals.

For example. while I lose weight at approx. 2,000 cals a day, if I were to input a sedentary level activity level and a 1lb a week weight loss goal (and many use 2lb), I would end up at 1,200 calories as well.

I keep hearing that 1200 is too low by the eat more police. Can one of them explain to me why mfp sets almost every woman at that number if it's incorrect?

It is just math - you set a low activity level and a high weigh loss goal - it gets you to less than 1,200 - as this is the threshold set by MFP, hence a lot of 1,200 cals.

As I said before, my weight loss goal was set at 0.8 pounds a week. It wasn't high at all. That was the highest mfp would allow me to go and also set me at 1200 calories a day. So why does it do that if it's not correct?

I am not saying whether it is correct or not, I just answered how the numbers on MFP worked.